HISTORY

Palermo
boasts a long and eventful history beginning with the Phoenician
conquest and going through the Roman, Arab, Norman and Swabian dominations.
The Arab enormously contributed to the city growth and left indelible
traces of their civilization, notably in the architecture and in
the urban layout of the city. The Norman made Palermo the capital
city of the Kingdom of Sicily that achieved its height under Roger
II who would remarkably foster Sicilian arts and economy. Fond of
beauty, in all of its forms, Roger ordered the construction of numerous
palazzi, that, still, are major attractions of the town. The Swabian
Frederick II was also a lover and patron of arts. He founded a school
of poetry and actively contributed to developing natural and physical
sciences. Upon his death the Island was taken by the French Angevins,
of whom is far more remembered the bad tax policy than the cultural
one. The Sicilian Vespers, a revolt broken out in Palermo in 1282
soon spreading to the rest of the Island would ultimately drive
them from Sicily. Despite the lost of its status as capital city
to Naples, Palermo enjoyed a new period of prosperity, notably marked
by a remarkable urban growth. It followed the Catalan-Aragon rule
that, following Ferdinand marriage to Isabel of Castile, would join
the latter Spanish dynasty. Palermo’s major palazzi and churches
were refurbished and restored and many new ones were built, most
thanks to local clergy.